Frank McKenna (born Scotland) was a Scottish

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

wing forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

who began his career in Scotland before playing eight seasons in the American Soccer League. McKenna began his career with

Vale of Leven F.C. Vale of Leven Football Club are a Scottish Association football, football club based in the town of Alexandria, Scotland, Alexandria, in the Vale of Leven area of West Dunbartonshire. Nicknamed ''the Vale'' and formed in 1939, they play at Mil ...

in the Scottish Football League Second Division. In the spring of 1919, he briefly joined

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

of the

National Association Football League The National Association Football League (also spelled ''National Association Foot Ball League'') (NAFBL) was a semi-professional U.S. soccer league which operated between 1895 and 1898. The league was reconstituted in 1906 and continued to oper ...

(NAFBL) after the completion of the 1918–1919 season. However, he left the team before the start of the 1919–1920 season. In May 1920, he rejoined Bethlehem Steel for the last few games of the season. He then moved to

Brooklyn Robins Dry Dock The Brooklyn Robins Dry Dock were an American soccer team which took its name from the workplace it represented. The dock was part of the Todd Pacific Shipyards in Brooklyn who formed the professional soccer club in 1918 to play in the National As ...

for the 1920–1921 season. The move to Robins paid off when Dry Dock took the

1921 National Challenge Cup Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number), the natural number following 18 and preceding 20 * one of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (film), a 1987 science fiction film Music ...

title. In 1921, several teams from the NAFBL merged with teams from the

Southern New England Soccer League The Southern New England Soccer League was a semi-professional soccer league based in New England which was established in 1914 and collapsed in 1921. During its short existence, it featured some of the top teams in the northeast United States. ...

to form the first American Soccer League. While Robins intended to move to the new league, the parent corporation,

Todd Shipyards Todd or Todds may refer to: Places ;Australia: * Todd River, an ephemeral river ;United States: * Todd Valley, California, also known as Todd, an unincorporated community * Todd, Missouri, a ghost town * Todd, North Carolina, an unincorporated ...

consolidated Robins with another of the company's teams,

Tebo Yacht Basin F.C. Tebo Yacht Basin was an amateur U.S. soccer team sponsored by the Tebo Yacht Basin company of Brooklyn, New York. It had a brief impact on the U.S. soccer scene from 1918 to 1921. In the fall of 1918, Tebo was drawn with Vikings in the first rou ...

, to form the

team. Therefore, McKenna spent the 1921–1922 season with Todd. McKenna went to his second

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

, but was on the losing side this time. Following that loss, the company withdrew the team from the league and McKenna moved to Paterson F.C. where he scored a goal a game in both league and cup play. Once again, he went to the

, winning his second title as he assisted on

John Hemingsley John J. "Rabbit" Hemingsley ''(also spelled Heminsley)'' was a U.S. soccer center forward who played the first two U.S. national team games in 1916. He spent seven seasons in the National Association Football League and five in the American Soc ...

tying goal in the 84th minute. McKenna finished the season with the Fall River F.C., one of the perennial powers in the ASL. During his three seasons in Fall River, McKenna won three league titles and yet another

. In 1925, he began the season with the 'Marksmen' but finished it with

Indiana Flooring Indiana Flooring were a New York City soccer team that played in the American Soccer League between 1924 and 1927. They replaced New York Field Club. Before joining the ASL, the team had played in various state leagues. Ernest Viberg, a former ...

. In 1927, Indiana Flooring was renamed the New York Nationals. McKenna played sixteen games with the Nationals, then moved back to the 'Marksmen' for two games before moving to

Providence F.C. The Providence Clamdiggers was a member of the American Soccer League. They were renamed the Providence Gold Bugs before the spring half of the 1928–1929 season. The club won the American Soccer Association Cup in 1929. After the fall 1930 s ...

for three games. He finished his ASL career with J&P Coats in 1928–1929.

References

Scottish men's footballers Men's association football forwards Vale of Leven F.C. players Bethlehem Steel F.C. (1907–1930) players Brooklyn Robins Dry Dock players Todd Shipyards (soccer) players Paterson F.C. (NAFBL) players Fall River F.C. (1922–1931) players Indiana Flooring players New York Nationals (ASL) players Providence F.C. players Pawtucket Rangers players National Association Football League players American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Scottish expatriate men's footballers Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Year of birth missing Year of death missing {{Scotland-footy-forward-stub